If you do what I did, and get these two books out of order, they will still work, but dear me, combined they tell one hell of a tale about a strong, resiliant young woman called Maggie.
A young woman who grew up in very difficult circumstances with a missing mother, and a drunken violent father (who also happened to be a cop), Maggie's been running from lots of horrible people for a long time.
Starting out with THE HUNTED, when she staggers into a remote service station, badly injured, pursued by some very bad people indeed, only to end up with a standoff between a small group of unlikely people and some very determined and dangerous foes. This outing introduces Maggie, providing some truly horrific circumstances that she is escaping, yet it's also an ensemble cast, with the elderly, grumpy old Frank and his granddaughter and their customers forming an unlikely alliance against an unknown threat, with Maggie, a most unexpected catalyst, in their midst.
SPOILER ALERT
THE INHERITANCE fleshes out Maggie's backstory. As part of an ongoing narrative that sees her, having escaped into hiding in a North Queensland tourist town, managing to stay under the radar for quite a while, until it all goes very tits up, finding herself in deep trouble again. Returning to Melbourne with an old family friend (although is he really), to try to track down some explanations that go back to her now dead father, she's also looking for a hard drive of his that might have some answers a lot of people want. More importantly for Maggie, it could provide clues on the fate of her missing mother. Can she escape, yet again, and is there ever going to be any peace for a young woman who is most definitely a victim of the sins of her father.
Having listened to both of these on Bolinda audio, I can only describe this as an experience. Maggie's whole existence is dictated by violence and threats, and she has a real struggle on her hands to both survive and thrive. Listening to the epic levels of that, rather than reading it, was close up and disconcerting, creating an extremely insular and quite frightening connection to the story. Right up in your hearing zone, it felt somehow more personal / difficult to process. It made both books, although it has to be said, THE HUNTED was more extreme, have a palpable physical effect on the reader.
Thrillers in style, but with extreme violence and threat to them, both THE HUNTED and THE INHERITANCE aren't comfortable reading / listening. But Maggie's a wonderful character, resilient, strong and slightly on the super-human side of physical capability. For her alone it was well worth sticking with them.
The Hunted
Where does the adventure end . . .
and the nightmare begin?
Frank owns a service station on a little-used highway. His granddaughter, Allie, is sent to stay with him for the summer, but they don't talk a lot.
Simon is a dreamer and an idealist, in thrall to the romance of the open road and desperately in search of something.
Maggie is the woman who will bring them together, someone whose own personal journey will visit unimaginable terror on them all. . .
The Inheritance
The author of the bestselling The Hunted returns with another unmissable, white-knuckle, gritty urban suspense thriller: think Jack Reacher meets John Wick in a high-octane, high-speed chase on the dark streets of Melbourne.
A young woman is hiding out in a sleepy North Queensland tourist town, trying to stay under the radar, when she stumbles across a dangerous drug cartel. Anyone else might back away shaking their head, pretend they hadn't seen anything, keep quiet, even though people are getting hurt. But Maggie is no ordinary girl. She's got skills, as well as plenty of secrets to keep, burdens to carry - and anger to burn.
When circumstances mean that she has to get out of town - fast - she heads towards Melbourne, where she just might find the answers that she needs - answers about her family and who she really is. With a bent cop for a dubious ally, the police tracking her and furious bikers on her trail, Maggie is in deep trouble. She's only got her ingenuity and wits on her side - and a determination not to inherit the sins of her father.